Apple stands as an excellent example for brands taking a dig at their rivals brilliantly

Apple since its invention has kept their first brand philosophy as ‘Think Different’. The act of thinking differently is symbolic of being smart, innovative, clever, and creative. And Apple has lived up to the claim of ‘thinking differently’ by actually ‘doing everything differently’, going against the norm – always asking the question, “what’s different about this?”

The company has been able to build a lifestyle-brand by making Apple mean “Creative” in the subconscious minds’ of the consumers. By this, they mean that you won’t become more creative by using Apple products, but you’ll belong to the creative-class.

Creativity is an indication of intelligence and problem-solving abilities which could lead to high financial earnings not only in the traditional business world but also in the creative industries like entertainment, advertising and design.

The world’s biggest tech trade show, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), takes place each January in Las Vegas and Apple never has been a part of it. However, this is not surprising, given the company’s accomplishment at hosting and hyping its own product- launch events, long before iPod and iPhone brought Apple to the top of the technology mountain.

But this year, it seems that Apple has a big surprise for us. The amazement given by the brand was in the form of a huge billboard advertisement displayed on the side of a hotel in Las Vegas.

The CES ad from Apple puts focus on privacy, and is being seen as a clear shot at rivals like Google and Amazon, brands that are set to have a huge presence this year at CES and which have come under fire for their handling of user privacy. Placed near the convention center where CES takes place, the sign is a cheeky riff on the old “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” slogan and with just a few words, it casts an Apple-shaped shadow over the saying. The ad’s placement also takes on extra irony when you notice that Google’s CES presence is even bigger than it was last year.

The brand’s huge banner advertisement displayed on the side of a hotel in Las Vegas reads, “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.” The ad also has a link to Apple’s privacy page on the official company website. No wonder there are several reasons behind this advertisement catching attention of everyone.

First reason of course, is that Apple has never registered its presence at CES, but this year it has come out with an exceptional advertisement that is clearly sending out a message. Moreover, this advertisemnet has been displayed at a time after Apple revised its upcoming revenue forecast due to lower than expected sales of the iPhone, especially in China market and very few users opting for upgrades in more developed countries.
CES 2019 will have its spotlight on voice-assistants with Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant expected to power more devices, from headphones to newer speakers. Apple’s focus on privacy is not a new thing but the fact that the company has chosen to highlight this as a reminder at CES is very interesting.

With this advertisement, Apple’s message is clear : We’re not trying to sell your data, while Amazon and Google are using your data (sometimes anonymously) to sell you stuff.

It is expected that Amazon and Google have a lot to show at CES 2019. Partners of both companies, from TV to appliance makers, will unveil gadgets that have built-in Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Google has also said it has tripled the size of its presence at CES from last year.

However, it may also be possible that Apple is trying to play defensive because it’s HomePod is not as popular as the Google Home or Amazon Echo. November data from research firm Canalys had Amazon and Google with 31.9 percent and 29.8 percent share of the smart speaker market, respectively, while Apple isn’t even included as a big player.

Ultimately, this is one ad that just builds on a message that Apple has been crafting for years. This probably isn’t the start of a large-scale, national ad campaign but praising its focus on privacy for all the tech industry to see makes a statement that goes way beyond a single billboard.

About the Author

Megha Harsh serves as a content writer at The Ideaz Factory. She has been a student of Print Journalism at the Indian Institute of mass communication. A writer by day and reader by night, she is loathe to discuss herself in third person. In addition to writing blogs, she also has interest in writing poems.